A large drawing of the Golden Temple at Amritsar by a European artist, 19th century

This drawing is very similar in composition to a painting of The Golden Temple at Amritsar by William Carpenter (1818-99) from 1854 in the Victoria and Albert Museum (IS.50-1882). In 1850 Carpenter went to India, painting notable buildings and portraits of local rulers. He spent some time in the Punjab and his painting of 1854 represents the famous Golden Temple at the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in the Punjab. The shrine was founded by Guru Arjan Singh in the late sixteenth century and was later restructured and the roof covered with gilded copper-plating by Ranjit Singh (r.1809-39). In both the painting and the current drawing the artist has beautifully captured the reflection of the temple in the water and balanced the composition with the figures and birds in the foreground.